Laboratory investigation of unconfined compression behavior of ice and frozen soil mixtures

Unconfined compression test (UCT) is widely conducted in laboratories to evaluate the mechanical behavior of frozen soils. However, its results are sensitive to the initial conditions of sample creation by freezing as well as the end-surface conditions during loading of the specimen into the apparatus for testing. This work compared ice samples prepared by three-dimensional and one-dimensional freezing. The latter created more-homogenous ice samples containing fewer entrapped air bubbles or air nuclei, leading to relatively stable UCT results. Three end-surface conditions were compared for UCT on ice specimens made by one-dimensional freezing. Steel disc cap with embedded rubber was found most appropriate for UCT. Three frozen materials (ice, frozen sand, and frozen silt) showed different failure patterns, which were classified as brittle failure and ductile failure. Ice and frozen sand showed strain-softening, while frozen silt showed strain-hardening. Subsequent investigation considered the influence of fines content on the unconfined compression behavior of frozen soil mixtures with fines contents of 0-100%. The mixtures showed a brittle-to-ductile transition of failure patterns at 10%-20% fines content.